Everybody Knows (2019)—Spain

This crime thriller by the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who has won the Academy Award for best foreign language film two times (2012, 2016), premiered at the 2018 Cannes film festival. The story revolves around Laura (Penélope Cruz), who leaves her husband Alejandro behind in Buenos Aires in order to return to her hometown near Madrid for a family wedding. They are hosted by Paco (Javier Bardem) and his wife Bea. When Laura's rambunctious teenage daughter Irene is cavorting with her boyfriend Felipe in the church bell tower, we learn that long ago Laura and Paco were lovers: "everybody knows," says Felipe. And when Irene is kidnapped during the wedding reception, and long buried family secrets and bitter animosities spill out, once again we're told that "everybody knows" the biggest bombshell of all that is the key to solving the whodunit. The villagers do talk! Of course, most everybody in this bickering family becomes suspect. Should they call the police? Why did Alejandro stay in Argentina, and what's with all his God talk? Will the drone video of the reception reveal anything? Most of all, what about Paco and Laura? I watched this film on Netflix Streaming. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net